Course Listing - by Instructor
Name | Biography |
---|---|
Maggie Asfahani | ) Owner, Maggie Asfahani built her dream, influenced by her lifelong upbringing on the border, as well as her family's Middle Eastern background and her travels to places such as London and Sydney. She brings the love of fresh and unique food to the neighborhood in her Salt+ Honey Bakery and Café located at 1125 Texas Ave., El Paso, 79901. |
Alfredo Arroyo | Alfredo Arroyo is a graduate of The Citadel and of the DEA/FBI Academy and other police, military, and intelligence schools. His career includes numerous domestic and foreign assignments with INTERPOL and in Europe, Africa, and Latin America. |
Ben Avalos | |
Raafat Ayoub | Raafat Maximos graduated from Cairo University with a law degree and later studied at the Academy of Fine Arts. After moving to the United States in 1980, Maximos pursued a graphic arts degree in Chicago and then worked as an art director at an advertising firm for many years. His passion led him to open gallery locations in Austin and El Paso, Texas. |
Stephanie Beard | Stephanie Beard is a third generation El Pasoan. She attended local schools and graduated from UTEP in 1974. strongly influenced by the West Texas desert and her Catholic Faith. |
Kevin Blain | Kevin Blain is an avid athlete and sports fan with a background in personal training, coaching, youth sports development, and managing sports leagues. He is passionate about health and wellness, and strives to educate others in building and maintaining an active, healthy lifestyle. Kevin is a family man who volunteers with senior olympics, and is currently developing a non-profit organization seeking to build an adaptive youth sports league and develop enrichment programs for charter schools. |
Cristina Bueno Gorena | Cristina Bueno Gorena holds a Master's degree in Education Management from Universidad Pedagógica Nacional del Estado de Chihuahua and a Bachelor's Degree in Communication Science from Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua. She is currently a Professor in the Education Program at Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez, instructing the art of Andragogy and Development use of teaching materials. She has 22 years' experience in teaching, from middle school to college levels, in a variety of institutions teaching Spanish language reading and writing, Oral Expression and Research Methodology at the Colegio Latino Americano and Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey She has also served as a middle school Principal for 4 years. |
Wolf Carter | Wolf was originally introduced to the art of Tai Chi while finishing his Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering at UTEP. He is a certified instructor with the Texas School of Tai Chi & Healing, and he has been teaching Tai Chi classes and workshops in El Paso and the Southwest since 2003. He has also had the good fortune to teach with a number of organizations in the area, such as the El Paso Fire Department (2007-present), Housing Authority City of El Paso (2007-17), UTEP Miners football players (2013-14), White Acres Retirement Community, and the Mescalero Apache Tribe. In 2007 Wolf was the winner of the U.S. National Championship, earning three gold medals in Tai Chi form and push hands competition. In 2014 he was formally inducted as a 7th Generation Lineage Instructor of Imperial Yang Style Tai Chi in Beijing, China. Tai Chi offers all students a great opportunity for improvement in health & fitness, stress relief, balance, coordination, and energy in a fun and interesting way. It can be done at whatever level of ability and exertion is comfortable for the individual student. Relaxation of mind and body is a primary goal. |
Jacqueline Cordova | Jacqueline Cordova is a certified health nutrition coach from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition in New York, and the Living Foods Institute in Georgia. She has three years' experience coaching clients individually, as well as seven years' experience teaching workshops and classes. Cordova majored in Computer Information Systems from the Universidad Autonóma de Guadalajara, Jalisco in 1994, and owns Green Ingredient Express, a health-conscious restaurant located in west El Paso. She has been a guest speaker for various local events including the Wise Latinas Summit, El Paso Museum of History: Healthy Thanksgiving Workshop, Rio Grande Cancer Foundation: Keep on Dancing, Femfessionals El Paso, El Paso Community Foundation: Cultivate Forum, and the Autism Society of El Paso. She has also participated in nutrition and food preparation workshops at EPCC and the Downtown Artist and Farmers Market. |
Constantine Dillon | Constantine (Costa) Dillon is a retired National Park Service ranger and superintendent who worked in more than a dozen parks in his 35-year. His awards include the Department of the Interior’s Meritorious Service Award and the National Parks Conservation Association's Stephen Mather Award. In addition to his time working in parks, Costa was also the Chief of Training and Employee Development for the National Park Service and managed the National Park Service’s Albright Training Center at the Grand Canyon. He has a B.S. in Environmental Planning and Management (Park Option) from the University of California, Davis, and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Colorado. |
Olivia Espin | Oliva M. Espín is Professor Emerita in the Department of Women’s Studies at San Diego State University and the California School of Professional Psychology of Alliant International University.A native of Cuba, she received her BA in Psychology from the University of Costa Rica and her PhD from the University of Florida, specializing in counseling and therapy with women from different cultures and in Latin American Studies. She has done post-doctoral work at Harvard University with a fellowship from the National Institute of Mental Health. |
Jeremy Fackenthal | Jeremy Fackenthal is an independent filmmaker and nonprofit director. In addition, Jeremy served as Director of the Common Good International Film Festival from 2019 through 2023. After completing a PhD in Philosophy of Religion and Theology from Claremont Graduate University, he began using his philosophical background beyond the academy to raise questions and craft narratives. Jeremy shot and edited a short documentary on spoken word poetry as a means of personal formation for adolescents, and he is currently working on a feature-length documentary. From making films to curating a film festival, Jeremy enjoys films as an art form, a means of expression, and of course as entertainment. |
Catherine Frank | Catherine Frank has taught more than 60 original OLLI courses in 24 years, both as a volunteer and as director for OLLI at UNC Asheville. She holds three degrees in English from UNC Chapel Hill where she wrote her dissertation on Thomas Hardy’s poetry. She developed her interest in African American literature on her own but hopes and believes that through literature we can develop understanding for lives we do not live ourselves and by reading together we enhance our ability to understand literature and life. |
Shashwati Geed | Dr. Shashwati Geed is faculty in the Department of Physical Therapy and Movement Sciences at the University of Texas at El Paso. She earned a PhD in Motor Control/Neuroscience from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, followed by postdoctoral training at the MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital and Georgetown University in Washington, DC. Dr. Geed's research focused on Neuroplasticity in Aging and Stroke has been funded by the NIH, NIDILRR, and the American Heart Association. |
Monica Gomez | Long-time El Pasoan Monica Gomez has made her living in the arts and broadcasting. As a performing songwriter, she traveled extensively and released three CDs of original songs. Her writing has been published in numerous anthologies, including Red Boots & Attitude: The Spirit of Texas Women Writers. The El Paso Writers League twice awarded Gomez the "Best of Best" poetry award and her work was featured on NPR's Themes and Variations. Published in 2012 and now available in English and Spanish, Gomez's creative writing workbook, EXPRESSERCIZE: Write Answers, contains more than 100 exercises in expression and self-discovery distilled from decades of personal experience. She was inducted to the El Paso Commission for Women's Hall of Fame for her work as a news reporter for KVIA, Channel 7. As host of State of the Arts, a weekly radio program on NPR affiliate, KTEP 88.5, for several years, she interviewed a spectrum of local and visiting artists about their lives and work. As a motivational speaker and teacher of creative writing and martial arts, Gomez has worked with diverse populations, from youth to the elderly and incarcerated juveniles to military veterans. She has studied the internal martial art of t'ai chi with masters from around the globe, including Chinese Grand Master Zhu Tiancai, one of the four Tigers of Chen Village. Monica's workshops invigorate, entertain and inspire participants to practice the literal creative power of writing to make positive changes in their lives. |
Phillip Hill | Dr. Phillip D. Hill joined the voice faculty of the University of Texas at El Paso in the fall of 2018 where he teaches applied voice and other voice related classes. Dr. Hill holds a DMA and MM degree in voice performance from the University of Texas at Austin and a BA degree in voice performance from Mississippi College. His career includes international performances of operatic and oratorio roles and extensive teaching experience at the university level. Singer. |
Kathleen Key | Kathleen Key graduated from UTEP with an English Literature and History degree. She has a master's degree in Art History from University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas. Key has taught art history and history of fashion since 1986. She and her husband, Bill, lived in Cairo, Egypt for 20 years before moving to the Mesilla, New Mexico area. She has taught the Entering Student Program at UTEP for five years and has been an OLLI instructor for two years. |
William Key | Education: BSME UTEP 1970; MSME Acoustics, U of H 1988. William "Bill" Key served in the U.S. Army until 1971, then worked as an engineer in the oil and gas industry in Houston for engineering and maufacturing firms. In 1995 he was reassigned to Egypt as a facility engineer for a major indepedent firm where he worked for 20 years until retirement. Bill also has a "good-working" knowledge of Arabic. |
Amol Kulkarni | Amol Kulkarni is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry at UTEP. He is a medicinal chemist and his research is focused on drug development for neurological disorders, such as, Alzheimer's disease. Dr. Kulkarni received his PhD from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He started his independent academic career at Howard University, Washington DC. His research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health. |
Stephen Ledesma | Stephen has a B.S. in Interior Design with a Teaching Credential in Language Arts. His main career was as an interior designer for the Department of Veterans Affairs where writing was an integral part of his work. Stephen also taught at Atchinson High School in Atchinson, Kansas for 2 years, teaching American Literature, Journalism and Speech. Five years ago, retired after 32 years, Stephen moved to El Paso for the climate, cost of living, cousins, and Mexican food. He no longer has to write lengthy and dull government memorandums. Instead, he writes for the love of language. |
Young Lee | Young Lee is an award-winning photographer in photography competitions. He has completed Nikon USA photography courses and is currently a Photography Instructor at UTEP P3 and EPCC C/E. He earned his Visual Design certification at Adobe with Photoshop and enjoys teaching to become a photographer who inspires creativity and dreams in people. He teaches you how to maximize the efficiency of your camera and use it with confidence. |
Kien Lim | Dr. Kien Lim is an associate professor at UTEP. He applies the teachings of the Buddha to his work as a math educator. He has published two articles: Using Equations to Think about Karma and Blending Mathematics Teaching with Kindness. He started an informal group for UTEP faculty and staff to meet regularly to cultivate kindness. He has been volunteering since 2015 at the Otero County Prison Facility to help inmates cultivate kindness and mindfulness. |
Marie Livingston | Marie received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from UTEP, is a former docent at the El Paso Museum of Art, and instructor of Art History with OLLI. She the past chair and current voluteer for OLLI, has been a long-time resident of El Paso, and an avid art lover. |
Amanda Lopez | Amanda Lopez is an instructor with the Rio Grande Cancer Foundation teaching Yoga Classes for beginners. |
Marty Loya | The owners of BODEGA LOYA, Ralph and Marty Loya, come from generations of family farmers. Both were raised eating fresh fruit and vegetables from various local farms. Marty grew-up on the 100 year old farm where BODEGA LOYA currently sits. The bodega was created by Ralph retrofitting an original adobe shed and tool room. They both believe in contributing to the healthy food initiative in their community which is slowly becoming a rare commodity. www.gwsfarm.com |
Gloria Lozano | Sifu Gloria "Joy" Lozano began her training in eastern martial arts 17 years ago under Sifu Roberto Briseno, a disciple of Grand master Ark Yue Wong and other masters from China. Sifu Joy has studied & taught martial arts for 15 years to the seniors in the El Paso Community. Her gentle tutelage and instruction has generated positive feed back from her senior students. |
Charles Martin | Charles Martin, Ph.D. is a recently retired history professor from UTEP. His studies emphasize civil rights history, Texas history, sport history, and American history. |
Keely McDonald | Keely McDonald taught art in public schools for 26 years. She began painting with watercolors 12 years ago and learned from long-time Texas artist, Bill Bissell. |
Joe Miller | Joe Miller is an English and Library Science student currently working for OLLI. In 2015, he ran a site called "Resounding Footsteps" a now defunct blog that was dedicated to dungeon synth music and evangelizing it to the wider world. He has written about the genre extensively and still maintains several contacts worldwide with many of the musicians. |
Davinia Miraval | Davinia Miraval studied Graphic Communications at Universidad Nacional Autonóma de México (UNAM) in 1998. That same year, she came to the United States and continued her studies. In 2005, she received a B.F.A. with a concentration in metals at UTEP. She has since received several awards including Best Painting Award of Excellence in Metals and the Student Scholarship from the Women's Jewelry Association, Inc. In 2007, she received her Master of Arts in Metals and Painting. |
Brian O'Neill | Brian O’Neill is an invertebrate biology professor and community ecologist at the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater. He has conducted research on a wide variety of invertebrates including: how the invertebrates of rivers of the U.S. Great Plains cope with floods; the food webs of temporary wetland communities in shortgrass prairies; and the ecotoxicology of common agricultural pharmaceuticals on wetland invertebrates. He has a productive international research initiative aimed at understanding the impact of humans on mammalian wildlife communities in South Africa, Costa Rica, Jordan, and the USA. His teaching interests include Aquatic Biology, Invertebrate Biology, Community and Introductory Ecology, and Introductory Biology for non-science majors. |
Hector Olvero Alvarez | Dr. Hector Olvera Alvarez is an interdisciplinary health scientist with a passion for understanding health and wellbeing. He earned MS and PhD degrees in Environmental Engineering and Sciences from the UTEP and has completed post-doctoral trainings in epidemiology, psychological well-being, and public health. Currently, he's the Senior Associate Dean for Research at the School of Nursing, Oregon Health and Science University. His work is informed by his personal spiritual journey and extensive community involvement. |
José Palomino Jiménez | |
Panfora Paul | Pandora Paúl is the Curator at America’s Automotive Trust and LeMay America’s Car Museum in Tacoma, Washington. She grew up in Southern California enjoying drives in her father’s red ’59 Convertible Corvette, her mom’s ’70 Opel GT, and cruising while in high school in her ’77 Malibu Classic station wagon. Her career has included both work and play in museum education, training, and curation. Pandora was part of the team at the San Diego Automotive Museum, creating award-winning exhibits. She has served on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Automobile Museums. She loves to showcase vehicles that have not seen before, as well as interpreting cars in unique ways that inspire conversation and create wonder and awe. She believes that automobiles are snapshots of our culture. |
Maria Perez | After 35+ years of involvement in pastoral ministry, social work, case management, advocacy, networking, and social work education, Maria Perez now dedicates her time to several projects stemming from her social work expertise, including social justice. She is part of a women writers group addressing immigration issues in various written forms. As a person with a disability since toddlerhood, Perez continues to be an advocate on disabilities rights and serves as consultant to nonprofits and for-profits that serve individuals with disabilities, the LBGT+ community, and other minority groups. |
Deb Pistella | |
Ashley Prieto | Ashley Prieto is a UTEP alumnus that received a master's degree from the College of Education in Mental Health Counseling in the Summer of 2022. They're currently an LPC-A under the supervision of Dr. Jose Luis Valenzuela, LPC-S. Currently, they work with UTEP's Student Suc Prietocess HelpDesk as the Basic Needs Coordinator with Foster Homeless Adopted Resources. |
Lynn Provenzano | Lynn Provenzano has facilitated personal and professional deveolpment for more than 25 years in corporate, community, and no-profit groups. She has worldwide cross-cultural experience, and specializes in interpersonal skills, creative energy work, meditation, and motivation. Provenzano is a MCKS Panic Healing practitioner/facilitator and devotee of T'ai Chi and qigong. She is co-founder of the nonprofit Lotus Integrated Group for Health and Transformation (L.I.G.H.T.) and presides over the nonprofit El Paso Society for Musicians of the Future. |
Ermides Ramirez | |
Rev. Lenae Rasmussen | Reverand Rasmussen holds a BS from Illinois State University, an MA from the Luther Seminary and a STM from the Insitute of Lutheran Theology. She has been the pastor at St. Paul's Lutheran Church of El Paso since 2007. She teaches and is completing her PhD program at the Institute of Lutheran Theology. She is member of the History Honor Society (Phi Alpha Theta), the Alpha Chi Honor Society, and loves to teach topics in the Renaiassance and the Reformation eras. |
Romana Saenz-Hawkins | Romy Hawkins-Saenz is a master of the metal embossing (repujado) art form and received a certification in it from UACJ in Mexico. Hawkins Saenz is a native of Sinaloa, Mexico, and has learned her artistry in Germany and Guadalajara, Mexico. She has taught repujado for OLLI for over eight years; she has also taught for the P3 Continuing Education. Her work has been exhibited in private collections, juried shows, and in art museums both locally and nationally. She was inducted into the 2019 El Paso Women's Hall of Fame for Arts by the El Paso Commission for Women. |
Linda Shubeck | Linda Shubeck's mother taught her to knit when she was seven, She taught herself how to crochet at age ten and has been crocheting for at least 40 years. |
Patsy Stallworth | Adriana Clowe, Patsy Stallworth, and Vanessa Brady founded Desert Spoon Food Hub in 2015 with a mission to build a more local and inclusive food system that services the community. Their programs include the Community Farm Box, Double Up Food Bucks, and Taster Space. https://www.desertspoonfoodhub.org |
Jay Stratton | Professor Jay Stratton is a teacher of numerous summer Shakespeare courses including last summer's Much Ado About… Something, He comes to UTEP after 17 years as a professional actor in New York City. He has taught at colleges nationally and internationally and loves working with OLLI! |
Carolina Valencia | Dr. Valencia, is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, College of Health Sciences at UTEP and the current Chair of the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences. She received her degree in physical therapy from Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso, Chile. She worked as a physical therapist for approximately 6 years mainly working with patients with musculoskeletal disorders in a variety of clinical settings. However, she always had unanswered questions, therefore; she decided to pursue a PhD. She graduated from the University of Florida with a PhD in Rehabilitation Science in 2011. Dr. Valencia's primary research interests involve the understanding and effects of pain modulatory system in the development of musculoskeletal chronic pain where she has published more than 20 accepted peer review publications. She is also interested in the biopsychosocial models in chronic pain development. She is currently examining pain sensitivity and central pain mechanisms among Hispanic Americans, and non-Hispanic whites. Specifically, she is identifying the potential effect of acculturation and ethnic identity in pain perception and central pain mechanisms in elderly population. Understanding the potential effect of acculturation and ethnic identity in pain perception and central pain mechanisms among Hispanic Americans, will better assist the clinician in a patient-centered approach to pain management in elderly population. Dr. Valencia promotes students success through a variety of high-impact experiences in the Bachelor of Science in Rehabilitation Sciences Program, ranging from undergraduate research, civic engagement, study abroad, and other high impact experiences that increase student's confidence, enhance personal and professional skills, and equip students with a competitive advantage to pursue a graduate degree. |
David Varela | Born in El Paso, Texas and raised between Phoenix, Arizona, the borderlands and rural Chihuahua, David Varela attended Parkland High School, El Paso Community College and New Mexico State University. With nine years of study and research experience in cultural affairs and history of the border, Mr. Varela is today the chief Concierge at the historic Hotel Paso del Norte in downtown El Paso and continues to share his passion for El Paso history with both his community and those visiting the Sun City. |
Robert Warach | Robert W. Warach attended law school and graduated from St. Mary's University School of Law in 1975. Robert Warach began practicing law in 1975. Robert Warach is an attorney (retired) who has served his local community and helped people with Real Estate issues. He was selected to Super Lawyers for 2010. Super Lawyers is an exclusive list of top-rated attorneys in specific practice areas who were chosen after thorough evaluation of numerous criteria. |
Sven Willenberger | sSven and Sylvia Willenberger and Marie Crowder founded The Desert Moon Emporium in 2021. Sven is known as the Coffee King and Sylvia and Maria are known as the Candle Queens. They were inspired by the lack of good local coffee and motivated to experiment to bring out the best flavor of various coffee beans to share with patrons while adding an artisan ambience to their space. |
Eva Wooden | Eva Wooden is a retired U.S. State Department employee who lives in El Paso, TX. She was born, raised, and lived for thrity years in Prague, Czechia. |
Jeonghyun Yoo | Jeong-Hyun Yoo lived in Singapore for a year while studying criminal justice in order to become a police officer. While in Singapore, he taught Korean for Beginners to kids there. He loves helping people reach their goals and teaching Korean allows him to do this while also sharing his culture. Yoo's goal for the Korean for Beginners class is to help students understand and speak Korean effectively. |